I had a near disaster  this week.    Remember the saying “Don’t cry over spilled milk?” My question:  “Is it okay to cry over a broken jar of dill pickles?”  I walked through the door right from the grocery store and BAM, dropped the plastic bag with the jar of pickles on the kitchen floor.  Glass, pickles and juice everywhere.  So not only did I not get to each the pickles, I had to smell pickle juice for the rest of the day.  Why was this so bad you ask, it’s only pickles…may only be pickles for you but I LOVE dill pickles almost as much as I LOVE cheese and they are approved on the diet program.  Plus it meant going back to the grocery store…not my best day.

Ever have the feeling that you’ve just not done your best?  Well, that’s how I felt when I went to get weighed and measured on Thursday.   I had just finished my second week and I was hoping that I had at least dropped one pound and the last thing I wanted to do was step on the scale.  I will tell you that while 100% compliant with the program, I sorta screw up last week.  Not big time, but I am supposed to be eating 2 cups raw veggies and 2 cups cooked veggies a day.  So, what happens when you don’t read the instructions carefully???  You eat 4 cups of cooked veggies most days and very little raw (but hey we’re not rabbits right?)  I did find out that it wasn’t a horrible mistake, it just means that you probably won’t lose the weight as fast.

However, I am becoming very creative in the kitchen.  For a girl that believes cheese is a major food group that can only be improved by combining it with something deep fried, it’s been interesting to stretch my German cooking skills to include baking fish, using ground turkey and lean meat instead of frying everything.

So, back to my Thursday weigh in…how bad was my screw up?  I lost 5 pounds and 3 inches!  Not bad at all .   My total at the end of two weeks:  9 pounds and 6-1/2 inches.  I realize the weight lost probably isn’t going to continue at this rate but it sure is good to see a little change in my face and in the way my clothes fit!

Until next time…

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Well, I did it!  One week down in my journey to a new, healthy body.  Before I began, I made the decision that if I was going to take on this mission to lose weight and get healthy, I would work the program the way it was designed.  For a girl that LOVES, LOVES, LOVES salty chips and creamy dips and could eat cheese morning, noon and night, the thought of giving up dairy and chips for awhile is like those horrible dreams where you are free falling to your death and suddenly awaken sit straight up in bed heart pounding, sweating profusely and taking deep breaths.  You’re thankful that you made it out alive but things feel a little off kilter and shaky.  But I’ve made it for one whole week, no shaking, no heart pounding and no profuse sweating.  It looks like I am going to make it.

I was surprised that once I got into the rhythm of grocery shopping for lots of veggies (which was not on my usual grocery list, who needs veggies when you have cheese?), it wasn’t nearly as difficult as I would have thought.  The foods from RenuU are pretty tasty so combined with lots of water, veggies and one cooked meal a day, I haven’t even been hungry.  Now when I say lots of water, most people are required to drink at least 64oz. a day…my husband’s question to me was “how are you going to reduce your water intake that low?”  The truth is, I drink anywhere from 96-120oz a day and have for years.  So, if you’re not a water drinker, you might need to pretend you’re in the desert and water is your life saving nectar.

I’ve been super lucky; I didn’t suffer from the withdrawal of sugar.  No headaches, no nausea and no cravings but I know that others have a tougher time during the first week.  Must be a sign that I’m doing the right thing!

So on to what you want to know. ..the results for this week.  Besides the fact that for the first time in a long time, I was able to zip my jeans WITHOUT sucking in, I lost 4 pounds and 3-1/2 inches in 7 days!  A great start, now onto the next goal…going down a jean size.

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Today’s the day!  I’m implementing my #1 New Year Resolution-Lose Weight!!  I have a great coach in Joann Cooper and a great support group with Lisa Chapman Rosenfeld and Susie Murray!  Even going to blog along the way…or weigh   – Linda

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Ellie Krieger shares: When mealtime rolls around, do you have trouble figuring out what to eat? Do you find yourself eating the same few meals and snacks over and over again? There’s a way to get out of this rut — be more flexible with your food!

Trying new foods, recipes, and cooking techniques can shake up your whole routine. For instance, if you always eat cold cereal for breakfast, try baking muffins on the weekend and freezing several for future weekday mornings. Add some novel toppings to your lunch salad or rotate some new fillings into your sandwiches. Even as simple a change as mixing up your snacks can help get you out of a food rut. Swap your granola bar for some fresh fruit, sample a new flavor or style of yogurt, or try some exotic nuts (or nut butters!).

When it comes to dinner, the best way to increase your flexibility may actually be to make a schedule. Plan what you will eat for dinner every night for a week, being sure to include several new recipes, and stock up on the ingredients you’ll need on your next trip to the grocery store. Then you’ll be all set to prepare new dishes when the time comes, instead of falling back on an old standby when your stomach starts rumbling.

Starting this week, in addition to stretching your muscles during your workout, stretch your boundaries at the table by being more flexible with your food!

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Do you mesure in or up?

With any program you choose to get back the body you have so desired, it’s crucial to keep a food diary.  It is an excellent first step and continuing step to see what you are eating and the portions.  By keeping an “honest” diary, it will help you see any areas of concern that may hamper your weight loss.  If a diary is not kept, you may be tempted to eat those foods not recommended by your program.

 At RenuU, we provide our clients a handy booklet or weekly form that will track your foods you ate and drank, your water consumption, recommended vitamins and exercise you’ve completed for the entire day.  This booklet can be carried in your purse or briefcase so there will be problems in remembering what you consumed for the day.

 You can, if you like, note the times that you eat. This will help you to make sure you eat at least every 3-4 hours, no more than 5.  If you don’t make a habit of eating that often, you may find yourself feeling light-headed or weak. Your body will definitely start sending hunger signals, and, in the end if you force yourself not to eat when you feel hungry… by the time you do sit down to finally eat something, you will be very prone to over-eat. When all is said and done you could feasibly take in as many — or more — calories during a binge than you would have eating three square meals! Thus, by skipping meals, you will do more harm than good. You should never skip a meal.  The foods that RenuU can provide are perfect for travel and being away from your office.  If you know you will not be able to find an appropriate place to get the recommended protein and vegetables during the day, just take a packet of food with you!

Keeping a food diary is excellent in assessing how you eat and why you eat. It will help you target your current problems and look into the root of them. In the end, it will also help you to design the eating plan that is best for you.  No matter how you keep your diary, you should be honest. It won’t do you any good if you fudge. The closer you can track yourself the better the results.   Remember, with any program, a cheat is a cheat.  Accept it and don’t beat yourself down. 

Remember to focus on portions.  When eating out, you know that portions are much larger that what you should consume.  When the waiter sits your plate down in front of you, immediately divide your meal in ½ and vow to yourself to not to eat the other portion.  Take it home with you to have the next day or better yet, share your meal.

Keeping track in a food diary will help you to be honest with yourself. You can fool some of the people some of the time, but you can fool yourself all the time if you try hard enough!  If you are not seeing the weight loss that you want, you diary will tell you why.  That is if you do write down everything!

If you find that you are having cravings or hungry all of the time, most likely you are not getting the right amount of protein your body needs.  To calculate the right amount of protein your body needs to keep in shape and enable it to perform all of its functions is to take your current body weight and simply divide it by two.  For a person who weighs 140 pounds 70 grams of protein are needed every day.  The protein foods at RenuU are nearly 95% absorbable whereas typical animal proteins are 40% to 60% absorbable.

If your focus is more on the reasons why you eat the way you do, you may want to spend more reflective time on your diary. After you have eaten, write down why you ate (hunger, boredom, etc.) and how you feel afterwards (guilty, deserving, etc.). You may want to create a scale from 1 to 4 showing how bad your craving was. Perhaps you should make note of the time you overeat so you can plan to arrange other activities in the future that will take your mind off of food.

Here are some examples of questions you may want to answer when you eat:

• How were you feeling before you ate?
• Did you feel “gut hunger?”
• Who were you with?
• Did you eat hurriedly or calmly?
• Can you recall everything you ate?
• Did you eat normal portions?
• Were you doing an activity while you were eating?
• How do you feel now (e.g. satisfied, healthy, guilty)?
• Overall was this a positive or negative eating experience?

By looking at your emotions and the reasons why you were eating, who you were with, what you were doing, etc. you will be able to assess whether or not you are giving in to binge eating, emotional eating or if you have a habit of eating among certain people, etc. These points are very telling if you find you gain or hit plateaus and can’t quite figure out where the weight is coming from.

When you see everything you can do with a food diary, there’s no reason not to do one and keep with it!

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One of the great things about walking for exercise is that you don’t need a lot of fancy equipment to do it. With some comfortable clothes and a good pair of walking shoes, you’re ready to go. However, there is one extra item that’s definitely worth having: a pedometer.

A pedometer is a small, clip-on device that measures the number of steps you take. Using a pedometer is one of the best motivational techniques I know and, at a cost of only $15 or $25, it’s inexpensive to boot.

You may have heard the recommendation that people should take 10,000 steps a day to maintain good health. This is ultimately a good number to shoot for, but if you are relatively inactive, you might want to start with a more attainable goal and build from there. I suggest walking around with the pedometer for a few days and averaging your daily totals to find out your usual number of steps, then adding 1,000 more as your goal. Once that becomes easy, add another thousand to your goal, and so on.

A pedometer gives you concrete evidence that you are meeting your goals as well as an incentive to take the stairs instead of the elevator. It’s a fun way to track your walks and the rest of your daily activity, and you may be surprised by how much — or how little — you’re already moving.

Today’s small change is to consider using a pedometer. You can pick one up at any sporting-goods store. It should be worn at your waist and centered at the midline of your right or left thigh (where the crease in your pants would be). Reset it to zero at the beginning of your day or walk, and you’ll have a simple way of tracking your activity.

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Pancreas Pete Knocking out Sugar!

As you know, the Holiday Season is upon us once again. This time of year makes most of us reflect on many things and celebrate many things. Regardless of your religious affiliation, there are many gatherings and events this time of year.

First of all, Thanksgiving gives us pause to reflect on the things we all have to be thankful for in our lives. While everyone has different circumstances in their lives, at Thanksgiving we can all find something to be thankful for. We live in a pretty good country even though sometimes folks disagree and squabble. The Holiday Season is the time to put aside those differences.

Most of us spend Thanksgiving and Christmas surrounded by family and friends and…

FOOD!!! OMG! Huge Turkeys (Oven Roasted, Fried, Smoked), Hams, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Stuffing (with more Gravy), Candied Yams, other Vegetables covered with so much sugar, cream and marshmallows that they can pass for dessert rather than Vegetables. Oh and speaking of dessert… Pumpkin Pie, Cherry Pie, Pecan Pie, Cheesecake, all piled with whipped cream.

Then, after weeks of holiday parties, the same thing happens just one month later… whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, Festivus, or any other holiday, one of the common themes is usually a celebration feast. Tablefuls of food, glorious food…

And there at the end of the table is you… sitting there with your little silver packet of Ideal Protein, 6 ounces of water in your Ideal Protein shaker, just waiting to dig in.

Is this realistic? Of course not!!

So how do you get though the Holiday Season? The first thing to do is get the proper mindset. You know these stumbling blocks are there, so you must plan for them. If you prepare yourself, then the Holiday Season can be just as enjoyable for you without sabotaging your diet.

THE WORST THING YOU CAN DO IS GO OFF YOUR DIET OVER THE HOLIDAYS!

Here are some examples of what you can do: 

Thanksgiving or other large Holiday Meal:  Even if you have no input whatsoever into what goes on the Holiday table, if you look around, you’re bound to find some things that won’t throw you off your diet. Use the main Holiday meal as your “regular” meal for the day. White meat turkey is usually very healthful and certainly falls within the acceptable protein category. You really should skip the stuffing, potatoes, and gravy, but you already knew that. Right? Look around and see what veggies are available. You already know what you can have. Just make the best choices.

Here’s a better scenario: let’s say you DO get some say-so as to what’s on the menu, or better yet, you’re hosting the meal. Well, that opens all sorts of possibilities, doesn’t it? Salads, allowable veggies, the possibilities are endless. And don’t think you can’t have good stuff. Grilled Asparagus, Portabella mushrooms sautéed or grilled. Grilled or sautéed sliced squash. See the recipe section below for a great recipe for “Faux” mashed potatoes.

Don’t skip breakfast on the day of your big meal. Eat your normal IP breakfast, whatever it might be. Also, don’t skip your evening snack.

Office/Work Parties:  If you can’t skip these, again all you need to do is plan ahead. If your party is being held at a restaurant, it is certainly acceptable to ask for an alternative selection. Most restaurants these days are prepared to be accommodating. Don’t be self-conscious about asking. Remember, baked or broiled lean protein (fish, shrimp, scallops, chicken, lean pork or beef), green salad and non-starchy veggies. Avoid cheeses, gravies, sauces, sweets and alcohol.

Office/Work Snacks:  This is probably the worst trap around the Holiday Season. There’s no real solution for this either. No substitute for Betty’s famous “Does this make my butt look big?” Brownies, or Mary Lou’s Oatmeal Raisin Caramel Fudge-Dipped “low fat” Cookies. Just say NO! Don’t walk by them, walk around. Keep some IP Protein Bars in your desk or lunchbox. Even if you eat an extra IP Protein Bar one day, it isn’t the end of the world. I don’t recommend it, but I’d rather see you eat an extra protein bar than a 500 calorie cookie that is going to send your pancreas into shock. Better yet, take some celery sticks, or slice some cucumbers in one of those disposable bowls or even a zip-lock bag. It isn’t going to be sweet, but it’ll be crunchy and sometimes that’s all you need. Be sure to keep some Walden Farms dressing at work for times like this.

Is It Easy?  No, it isn’t easy; at least, not at first. But you didn’t sign up for Easy did you? No, you signed up to lose weight and get healthier. You really need to look at this over the long run, not just for one meal, or one Holiday Season. As you progress, it will become easier and easier. By the time next Holiday Season comes around, more than likely you won’t have to face these kinds of dilemmas. You will be able to go to Holiday dinners and eat the right foods in the right combination without even thinking about it.

Oh, did I mention: THE WORST THING YOU CAN DO IS GO OFF YOUR DIET OVER THE HOLIDAYS!

What Do I Do If I Slip?  If you slip up during the holidays, DO NOT waste time beating yourself up and thinking that you just can’t do it. Get back on the IP Diet ASAP! If you’ve already moved on to Phase 2, or Phase 3, you might need to go back to Phase 1 for a week. Talk to me, your Coach. I will not belittle you for slipping up. As you know, I will encourage you, and tell you exactly what you need to do to get back on track.

Happy Holidays from your Sugar Buster Coach!  Joann SuperCooper

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Well I finished week #2 yesterday.  Lost 2 more pounds 1″ chest, 1/2″ in waist everything else is the same.  I am ready for round #3 and a busy weekend.  I have started measuring my protein at night.  I am sure I was not eating 5 oz.  That is a lot for me.  I know I don’t eat all my veggies – but I promise to start making sure that I do!
 
I know you girls have a heavy schedule with Dr Ken cooking this weekend, but just try to make the right choices.  Eat from the program before you go to their house.  That will really help.  Crystal light or water in  a glass that they don’t know what you are drinking.  We don’t need alcohol to have fun.  We proved that last weekend.

Until next time!   – Jackie

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